Women's reservation bill gets nod from parliamentary committee

A parliamentary standing committee has cleared the bill seeking amendment in the Constitution to enable women's reservation in the Lok Sabha.

The committee has, without suggesting major changes, sought an early enactment of the bill, which was first tabled in the Rajya Sabha in May 2008.

Asked how soon the bill will come up before Parliament for passage, the committee's chairperson Jayanthi Natarajan, a Congress member of Parliament, said that decision lay with the parliamentary affairs minister.

The bill has sought 33 percent reservation for women MPs in the Lok Sabha.

In its report tabled in both the Houses of the Parliament on Thursday, the committee, which comprises members of all political parties, wanted the proposed reservation to be extended also to the Rajya Sabha and legislative councils.

The committee objected to a clause in the bill which said the women's reservation was stipulated for only 15 years.

While agreeing that the reservation could not be for perpetuity, it said women should be given a level-playing ground and that the time for reservation could be fixed only after the "equalisation" process was complete and after women achieved "adequate" political representation.

The committee approved the bill's provision for rotating the seats reserved for women, while it rejected submissions that male MPs and MLAs be discouraged from nursing their constituencies if they cannot contest due to the proposed reservation.

'It is the duty of the incumbent to work towards the welfare of the constituency, irrespective of whether he would be elected next time or not,' the committee noted, and asked the government to consider the Pattali Makkal Katchi's plea that the bill should provide a procedure to determine constituencies to for women's reservation, instead of leaving it to Parliament to decide.

Regarding quota for Other Backward Classes within the reservation, the committee said, 'All other issues may be considered at an appropriate time by the government without any further delay at the present time in the passage of the bill.'

Except for members of the Samajwadi Party, who wanted the reservation to be limited to not more than 20 percent and also reservation for women OBC candidates in the bill, others approved the bill.

The committee also noted that the reservation for women should not be left to the discretion of political parties, but be included in the Constitution for effective enforcement.

'Inadequate representation of women in Parliament and state legislatures is a primary factor behind the general backwardness of women at all levels,' the committee said, and that reservation of seats for women was 'a valid and necessary strategy to enhance their participation in the decision and policy-making process' as it is critical to the nation-building process.